Love Is The Fulfillment Of The Law, Part II

I’m taking a short break in my personal journaling through Romans to cover a topic that may either be just what God is guiding me through at this time in my life, or it may be that this is a prevalent confusion and therefore it deserves some study. The first part of this study can be found here.

Part II

I mentioned yesterday that the Bible, in the letter from Paul to the Corinthian Christians, describes a view of love that surpassed any other framework that humanity had known before. That’s a bold statement to make. It is also an accurate statement. The love that the Bible describes stands separated from merely emotion or affection or selflessness or devotion, though it essentially envelopes those things.

The phrase that I’ve titled these blog posts with, “Love is the fulfillment of the law,” is quoted from the thirteenth chapter of the letter to the Romans, tenth verse. It echos Jesus words that all the Hebrew Law and Prophets hang on the two commandments to love God and love people. Yesterday I discussed key concepts of love (as described by the Bible, which is my test for truth). We cannot correctly understand this verses (and many other verses) without getting Paul’s view of the Law as well.

The Law is not a regret to God.

In Paul’s letter to the Christians in Galatia, he says that, “if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law” (Galatians 3:20). This is an extremely important fact. The Law is not non-binding on a Christian because it is archaic or worthless or unnecessary. Paul here emphatically rejects any negative view of the Law. In the Romans letter he wrote that the Law is “good and holy and just” (Romans 7:12)! Paul has a high view of the Law!

The Law did not fail its purpose.

Going back to Galatians Chapter 3, Paul says, “if there had been a law given which could have given life…” which appears to be explaining that the Law was inadequate in helping; however, that is not so. What Paul is saying is that no law could have brought us life (speaking here of “eternal life”). Why? Because a set of rules can never express the requirements necessary for attaining that reward? No! Paul says “truly righteousness would have been by the law”! Again, Paul has a high view of the Law. He knows that God gave a perfect Law (which is how David describes it in Psalms 19).

So, why couldn’t the Law bring about the hope of eternal life? Paul answers that question in the Romans letter. There in the beginning of Chapter 8 Paul clearly and frankly states, “for what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh….” The Law is not the problem for us. We are the problem for the Law. Our inability to actually perform the Law – to live 100% within its guidelines – is the issue.

The Law still served and still serves its purpose.

What then should we think about the law? Going back to Galatians 3 God gives us the answer: “before faith came we were kept under guard by the law” and “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ” (verses 23 and 24). Kept under guard? That simply means that it is right for us to try to live as the Law tells us to live because the result will be less sin in our lives. One function the Law had before Christ came was to aid us in avoiding sin. By striving to live how God says we should live, we are protected from having our lives ravaged by the consequences of sin. We ought to do all we can to obey God's commandments because they are good for us and will bring blessing to our lives!

What about the “tutor” position then? The tutor teaches. What does the Law teach? It teaches that we are unable to fulfill it. It teaches that we, every person everywhere that ever lived, cannot measure up to God’s standard for perfection – the standard that He sets in Himself. It teaches that we need God to do something else for us if anyone is going avoid punishment for our failure to meet the Law’s requirements. The tutor teaches us about a need for a Savior.

The Law is good.